Goguen v. Allen

780 F.3d 437, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3911, 2015 WL 1064394
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedMarch 12, 2015
Docket13-2278
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 780 F.3d 437 (Goguen v. Allen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goguen v. Allen, 780 F.3d 437, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3911, 2015 WL 1064394 (1st Cir. 2015).

Opinion

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Robert Goguen is a former pretrial detainee at the Somerset County Jail (“SCJ”). He brought this action alleging that various correctional officers at SCJ violated his rights under the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments by inflicting punishment on him without due process of law and by retaliating against him for filing grievances against members of SCJ’s staff. The defendant officers and administrators moved for judgment on the pleadings, summary judgment on the merits, and also summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. The district court granted summary judgment to several defendants who had not participated personally in the alleged violations. With respect to the remaining defendants, the court concluded that there were genuine issues of material fact concerning the defendants’ actions and motivations that precluded summary judgment. These remaining defendants timely appealed.

We conclude that the defendants’ appeal must be dismissed for want of appellate jurisdiction. The defendants’ arguments on appeal take issue with the district court’s factual assessments and do not present a pure issue of law for this court’s consideration. Consequently, following our holdings in Cady v. Walsh, 753 F.3d 348 (1st Cir.2014), and Penn v. Escorsio, 764 F.3d 102 (1st Cir.2014), we cannot entertain the defendants’ appeal.

I.

A.

Between March and December 2011, Mr. Goguen was detained at the SCJ awaiting his trial on pending charges in state and federal courts. From March 15, 2011, until June 23, 2011, the SCJ housed Mr. Goguen in its E-pod, a general population area in which inmates are allowed some freedom of movement. In contrast, SCJ’s A-pod, which houses inmates in administrative segregation, inmates in disciplinary segregation, and inmates who are classified as maximum security, imposes significantly greater restrictions. Mr. Goguen’s allegations center on his repeated placement in A-pod, ostensibly for administrative segregation. We therefore discuss, in some detail, the conditions of confinement in A-pod.

Inmates in administrative segregation endure a significantly restrictive environment. While in administrative segregation, inmates are allowed out of their cells for one hour per day, five days per week, for recreation. “Recreation” takes place in a caged area that is approximately five feet wide by ten feet long. Inmates in administrative segregation leave their cells to shower three times per week; each inmate generally is allowed ten to fifteen minutes to shower. Once a week, inmates *439 in administrative segregation are allowed out of their cells to make a telephone call.

According to the defendants, any inmate housed in A-pod, whether placed there for administrative segregation, for disciplinary segregation, or because of their maximum-security classification, are strip searched every time they enter or leave their cells. All cells in A-pod are searched at least once per day, compared to cells in E-pod, which are searched on a monthly basis. Additional cell searches also may be conducted when SCJ staff members receive information that an inmate possesses contraband. When a cell search is conducted, the inmate housed in that cell is strip searched prior to being removed from the cell.

When an inmate is taken to administrative segregation, all of the inmate’s property is put into a bag and taken to the property room. If an inmate in administrative segregation requests his legal materials, arrangements are made to provide the legal materials to the inmate when the property officer is on duty. When an inmate is placed back in general population, the inmate’s property is returned by the property officer.

Placement in administrative segregation is reviewed within seventy-two hours by the classification supervisor. SCJ policy also requires that, within the same time frame, an inmate be given notice of the reason for his placement in administrative segregation and of the date and time that the committee will hold a hearing to review the administrative-segregation placement. Another review of administrative-segregation status is done within seven days (every Friday) to determine if continued placement is needed; review can be performed by any day shift commander.

1. June 23 Disciplinary Charges

The incidents relevant to Mr. Goguen’s claims bégin on June 23, 2011, when Officer Jennifer Gilblair searched Mr. Goguen’s cell in E-pod for an envelope. Officer Gilblair asked Officer Craig Meunier not to let Mr. Goguen upstairs while she was searching the cell. Mr. Goguen was allowed to watch the cell search from downstairs. Based on the configuration of the SCJ, however, the district court concluded that one actually cannot watch a cell search from downstairs. The defendants dispute whether the district court reasonably could have reached this conclusion based on the evidence before it. Officer Gilblair’s search uncovered commissary items including one plastic soap dish, one bar of soap, one plastic bowl, one white-colored shower shaver, and one bottle of shampoo. It is undisputed that, due to a lack of funds, Mr. Goguen could not have purchased these items; consequently, Officer Gilblair wrote a disciplinary report and a notice of infraction for a violation of C-04 of the SCJ Inmate Discipline Policy, “Giving, Receiving, or Swapping.” 1 Mr. Goguen maintains that there was no legitimate reason to search his cell for an envelope because legal envelopes are supplied for free by the commissary.

According to Officer Meunier, Mr. Goguen responded to the search of his cell by arguing and swearing at him. Officer Meunier therefore wrote a disciplinary report concerning Mr. Goguen’s conduct, in which he charged Mr. Goguen with a violation of B-24, “Interfering,” and B-12, “[PJrovocation.” 2 Mr. Goguen denies that *440 he argued with or swore at the officers involved in the search of his cell; instead, he maintains that Officer Gilblair yelled and cursed at him. Mr. Goguen contends that these charges were falsely brought by Officers Meunier and Gilblair. Nota-' bly, Mr. Goguen attributes Officer Gilblair’s actions to the fact that, just before the search, he had been a witness for another inmate and “wrote a report against Gilblair for her misconduct ... or harassment.” 3 Following this incident, Mr. Goguen was placed in administrative segregation in A-pod on order of then-Sergeant Keith Plourd. 4

A non-defendant officer, Officer Ducharme, was assigned to investigate the giving-receiving-swapping charge and spoke to Mr. Goguen on the day of the incident. He informed Mr. Goguen of the alleged violation and asked for Mr. Goguen’s side of the story. Officer Ducharme provided Mr. Goguen a notice of infraction, which informed him of the charge. Mr.

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780 F.3d 437, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3911, 2015 WL 1064394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goguen-v-allen-ca1-2015.